BACKGROUND:Patients with a potential lymphoma diagnosis may be admitted into hospital under any unit other than Oncology or Haematology. Consultants at Western Health (WH) were frustrated over delays related to referrals, diagnosis and treatment of these patients. On initial investigation, little was known objectively about these patients’ journeys through the health system.METHODS:To determine the most common pathway, a retrospective audit of admitted WH inpatients who received a diagnosis of lymphoma over a two year period (2012-13) was conducted. Dates of key points in patients’ journeys were recorded and analysed according to number of days between each interval.RESULTS:43 patient journeys were eligible for analysis. The median length of stay was 8 days and the main cause of referral delay was due to diagnostics. One third of patients received their final proven diagnosis after discharge in the ambulatory setting with a median length of stay of 5 days.CONCLUSION:This study indicates that awareness of lymphoma has improved in the hospital setting evidenced by early recognition of the disease and referral to appropriate teams. Improvement projects should be focused on delays in diagnostics and the provision of final diagnosis in the ambulatory setting.